[Jewelry making - Article 00301] - Re: [Orchid] Red topaz?

[The Doctor]

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>                  I would place a bet that it has either been heated,
>     irradiated, or diffusion treated. Take a look at the corner meets
>     with a microscope and see if the color is inconsistant. 

>             Unfortunately, I don't have a microscope, but maybe I
>     could borrow one. Could you explain what you mean a little more?
>     Where am I looking, and for what? 

    Noel, perhaps the best way to do this is to first find a shallow
    glass dish or, better yet, a shallow, white plastic (or Tupperware)
    dish that will fit on the stage of the microscope. Basically, you'll
    be using it as an immersion cell similar to the one found at this
    URL: 

    http://www.yourgemologist.com/immersion/cell.html 

    You must diffuse the light from the base of the microscope, so use
    white plastic, or place a sheet of white paper under the clear glass
    cell. 

    You probably don't have methylene iodide to immerse your stone into,
    but water will work well enough. Baby oil will work better as it's
    refractive index is closer to that of topaz. Put the stone in the
    immersion cell, cover it with the liquid of your choice and place it
    under the microscope. Hopefully, you'll be able to see through most
    of the stone even though it is mounted (I believe you did say you
    had mounted it as a jewelry piece). 

    If it has been diffusion treated (I'm not sure anyone has ever
    diffusion treated topaz, but that is what was suggested), you'll see
    the color of the stone has concentrated along the facet junctions.
    Or possibly around the rim of the outline of the stone, or mainly
    the center of it. Typically, untreated stones will be uniform in
    their depth of color under immersion, while diffusion treated stones
    tend to have their color concentrated in the center or along facet
    junctions when viewed under immersion. 

Best,
James in SoFl

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